In fact, it was
making men of them at once, for a few white faces
never failed to strike terror into these black rascals;
and then, not to mention the good things
that were going at the storming of a Pettah, or
the plundering of a Pagoda, most of these tawny
dogs carried so much treasure about their persons,
that a won battle was equal to a mine of gold to
the victors.
The natives of Middlemas listened to the noble
Captain's marvels with different feelings, as their
temperaments were saturnine or sanguine. But
none could deny that such things had been; and
as the narrator was known to be a bold dashing
fellow, possessed of some abilities, and, according
to the general opinion, not likely to be withheld
by any peculiar scruples of conscience, there was
no giving any good reason why Hillary should not
have been as successful as others in the field, which
India, agitated as it was by war and intestine disorders,
seemed to offer to every enterprising adventurer.
He was accordingly received by his old
acquaintances at Middlemas rather with the respect
due to his supposed wealth, than in a manner corresponding
with his former humble pretensions.
Some of the notables of the village did indeed
keep aloof.
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